Solid state starters/controllers have found widespread use for controlling application of power to an AC induction motor. The conventional starter/controller, referred to hereinafter as simply a controller, uses solid state switches for controlling application of AC line voltage to the motor. The switches may be thyristors such as silicon controlled rectifiers (SCRS) or triacs.
Conventional controllers include a housing enclosing the solid state switches and a control circuit for controlling operation of the solid state switches. For configuring controller operation the motor controller may include push button switches for setting parameter functions and ranges. Indicator lights, such as LEDs, may be used for status indication. While such a user interface may be adequate for configuring the motor controller, the user interface may not be considered user friendly to some end users. Particularly, entering setup parameters into the controller's memory may be time consuming and error prone because the data is entered by a series of keystrokes.
The present invention is directed to improvements in configuring motor controllers.